Thursday, March 03, 2005

Paradise...and Back

Hawaii was better than I thought it would be. I knew it would be beautiful, hot and full of native English speakers (a real bonus at this point in our lives) but I also thought it would be a bit too touristy for my taste. It wasn't. It was more beautiful than I had imagined and less busy and congested. There were plenty of empty beaches to walk along and not too much traffic. I fell in love.

We stayed at a great little place on the Windward side of the island. The cottages were right on a private beach...every morning I would walk along the beach, the aqua water on one side, palm trees on the other. Some mornings, I wouldn't see a single other person. It was like I was on my own private island...just me and my family. We decided to get married right where we were staying...on the beach, under a palm tree. Does it get any better than that?

There were a million things I wanted to do on the island, and sadly, I only managed to fit in a couple of them. I guess that means I will have to go back! I did manage to do a couple of cool things though:

1. I shopped my ass off at a really great mall. Didn't have a lot of money, but was loving brand names I could recognize. The food court was the best part of all...Brian and both walked right past the Korean BBQ joint. No way, no how.
2. I went swimming with turtles! We went to Turtle Beach and got really close to them. Later in the week, I went snorkeling and swam right into one. Coulda kissed it.
3. I ate fantastic food, on the beach.
4. I read to my hearts content.
5. I spent a lot of time with my family. It's never enough but I enjoyed every minute of it.
6. We went and watched a pro-surf competition and the world famous Banzai pipeline. That was impressive.
7. I swam in the ocean and did some boogie-boarding!
8. Did I mention the food?
9. We went to the International Marketplace in Waikiki...very cool.
10. I watched a sunset at Sunset Beach and swam in Waiamea Bay.
11. Ohhh...and I got married. :-)

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